


The Green Knight Holds the Holly Bush

by Casijaz



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M, Samhain, The Pendragons’ Merlin Anniversary Festival 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 05:00:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16717012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Casijaz/pseuds/Casijaz
Summary: I've made this picture for the The Pendragons’ Merlin Anniversary Festival of 2018, but decided it needed a little bit more before I posted it to AO3. I'm new to posting art on here, bear with me.It's supposed to be set around s2-3.





	The Green Knight Holds the Holly Bush

**Author's Note:**

> This stuff's not beta'd, nor spell-checked. Fun! It's also not that good but I needed something to do on the train trip home lmao

**\------------------------------------**

As a prince of Camelot, Samhain is for watching the court get absolutely sloshed while complaining about how the weather freezes up the castle. It is most certainly not for following your manservant to a large bonfire party held in the woods.

Merlin, that bastard, somehow managed to drag him along to this peasant Samhain celebration, claiming it "to be a lot more fun than seeing drunk sir Bors hit on the tenth girl that night." Obviously there isn't a lot of competition in that area, but it was Arthur's only other option.

He saw the scrawny man navigate quickly through the twigs and leaves strewn on the path, actually taking effort to follow him. _Must be he's used to the forest_ , Arthur thought as he almost fell flat on his face tripping over another twig. Without warning, Merlin came to a halt, leaving Arthur to bump into him, too busy grumbling to notice. "What the hell, Merlin?!" Arthur said as he jumped back. A broad smile made its way on Merlin's face; "we're here! Look!"

Thundering laughter and song boomed through the trees in the forest clearing, light shining through, illuminating smiling faces. A warm red glow could be found around the fires and people, all basking in its heat, fighting off the fresh winter cold.

Suddenly, excitement crept into his stomach, seeping out to his extremities. As soon as they passed into the clearing, it turned to almost giddiness. Genuine smiles and generous fires met him as Arthur tucked down his green coloured hood for good measure. If he was going to join in on the fun, better to do it without them knowing.

That bubbling feeling inside reached its crescendo when he saw her standing near one of the fires, wearing a warm red hood, dressed holly in her locks. Lit up completely contrasted to the darkness around her, she seemed like a summer goddess, here to protect him from the cold.

"Gwen!" Merlin shouted, halting for a split second followed by a softer; "Morgana." His manservant's expression seemed unreadable, but not that Arthur had any care in the world other than the vision before him. And then, she looked at him.

Should death find him, it could do it now, for Arthur would not care a single thing as he was already in Elysium. Guinevere smiled, softly, her eyes crinkling at the sides, and let out the sweetest of breathless laughs. "Arthur! I didn't know you'd be here!" She spoke as she patted down her curls a bit, "surely if I'd known I'd dressed up nicer!"

By now, Arthur did know that he could do something more than say, stare at her pretty face even if he couldn't, but he also didn't need a reminder from his manservant. "Psst clot-pole I think this is the part you say ' _hello_ ' back." Morgana smiled and added: "Common sense one would suppose." After sternly glaring at them both, Arthur picked up Guinevere's hand and kissed it. "Oh smooth," he heard Merlin gripe before Guinevere took his hand and led him down, closer to the fires, further from Merlin and Morgana.

She grinned, now visibly flushed red from the heat or his kiss, Arthur couldn't tell. "I'm really happy you're here!" she spoke, "what would you like to do first? There's apple cider, musicians, and - Oh! You're freezing! How about we get you closer to the fire, first." Arthur looked down at Guinevere and realised that at this moment, in all this revelry, there'd be one thing he'd want to do first. 

Arthur held Guinevere back, his hands sliding up from her waist, to her back, up to her head. Gently, he cradled her hair, gloved fingertips grazing her neck. He leaned forward, slowly, and looked at her expectantly. The words came easy: "Guinevere, would you like to-" but were abruptly cut off by his lover's lips, tasting of cider and cinders.

And there, by that Samhain bonfire, Arthur kissed the past year goodbye.


End file.
